Harvard College Observatory in Peru

The Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments holds significant instruments that were taken to Arequipa, Peru by the Harvard College Observatory between 1889 and 1900 for use in photographing stars in order to analyze and catalog them. Many of these instruments were telescopes made by Alvan Clark & Sons of Cambridgeport, Massachusetts.

Related photographs, field notes, letters, and other documents have been put online by the Harvard University Library Open Collections Program at Harvard College Observatory Expedition: Boyden Station, Arequipa, Peru, 1889–1927. This website is part of Expeditions & Discoveries, which features nine major expeditions with strong Harvard connections and significant holdings among the University's repositories.